I recently came to a shocking conclusion – I am much more excited to see The Avengers than I am to see The Dark Knight Rises. Okay, so that might not seem shocking to you, but it was definitely a shock to me.

For my entire life, I’ve been a huge Batman fan. From the comic books to the animated series and through all of the movies, the Caped Crusader has always been my favorite superhero and, as of a few months ago, I don’t think anyone could have convinced me that Christopher Nolan’s epic conclusion to his Batman trilogy would be anything short of brilliant. That’s all changed now, though.

Marvel’s insidious strategy to connect all of its movies into one super-sized superhero explosion has worked its charms on my inner geek and I’m not ashamed to say that I was powerless to stop it. Here are my five reasons why I’m more excited to see The Avengers than The Dark Knight Rises.